Shadow of the Scar
by NeoVaihlo
Summary: They have done it. Galaxia has been defeated. Chaos is gone. The Scouts and their Guardians can now just live out their lives like normal teenagers, or so they think. Shadows still hold one final enemy, and when it reveals itself, no one knows what to do, or how to even fight back against it.
1. Prologue

The rain fell lightly on that evening, yet each drop that struck his skin felt like a bullet piercing into his flesh. His breath came ragged, his heart pounding inside his chest as as the air before him fogged with every labored exhalation. He had been fighting for hours, pushing past the Sailor Warriors who served Galaxia, fighting to reach the rooftop where his sister and his friends had been fighting, trying to end this war against the most powerful Sailor Senshi in the entire known universe. And now here he stood, staring at the scene before him with tears burning the backs of his eyes. The Scouts that he had swore to protect lay on the concrete rooftop, eyes wide and staring, void of any sign of life. Only his sister, the Moon Princess, remained on her feet, tears on her cheeks, moon scepter in hand, limbs trembling and terror in her eyes. Across from her, on the other side of the fallen stood Galaxia, golden armor gleaming in the moonlight, untouched by the rain; the water droplets seeming to stray away from the Sailor Warrior rather than touch her. Her power, her energy was unlike anything he had ever sensed in his life. Yet he felt no fear.

Galaxia raised her hand, facing Sailor Moon, smirking as a red energy gathered in her palm.

A sharp pain shot out from his left shoulder, and the Sailor Guardian's blood burned with rage. The ground under his feet exploded as he launched himself forward, his two handed single edged zweihander sword screaming through the air as he charged. Galaxia turned her attention to him as his battle-cry roared out from his lungs. Her eyes went wide in shock, crossing her arms in front of her as the blade swung down at her, her arm guards catching the edge of the sword and freezing it in place. The ground under her feet cracked from the force of the impact, and Galaxia herself gritted her teeth before meeting the eye of the warrior who had attacked her. With a battle cry of her own she uncrossed her arms, knocking the sword up. Both warriors turned their hands out to one another and unleashed an energy blast. The Guardian was blasted backwards from the attack, his sword clattering across the rooftop as he tumbled on the concrete, rolling to his feet and drawing his second blade, a blade crescent shaped blade, the outer edge sharp enough to slice the walls between dimensions. The guardian charged again, feeling his anger fueling his power as he leapt into the air towards Galaxia. He swung the black blade and Galaxia dodged, barely avoiding the blade as its tip bit into her cheek. Regaining her stance, Galaxia wiped her cheek with back of her hand and scowled.

"You will pay for that," she growled, narrowing her eyes. The guardian spit off to the side and channeled his energy into the blade. Roaring, he swung the blade, unleashing a barrage of black crescent energy blades into Galaxia. HE swung again, unleashing more as Galaxia vanished from sight in the resulting explosion of energy. The guardian swung again. And again. And again. He swung and swung until he felt as though his arms would fall off from the effort. He let his fall to his sides, limp from exhaustion, panting for breath as he watched the smoke could slowly dissipate. Before the scene cleared he felt a sharp burning pain explode through him, from his back to his chest. Looking down he saw the tip of his great-sword sticking out of his chest. Turning his head, eyes wide in shock he saw Galaxia standing there, not a scratch on her, holding the handle of his blade, smirking. "Is that it?" she asked as she slowly pulled the blade back out. The Guardian's vision blurred, his grip on his black sword went slack and the blade dropped to the ground. The sword came free of his body and he staggered, turning to face Galaxia as blood welled up in his mouth, slipping out through his lips. Without another word Galaxia slashed him across the chest, knocking him over the edge of the building and watched him plummet to the landing below. As the Guardian fell, he watched as she tossed his sword aside, then felt his world go black, never feeling himself hit the ground below.

Koaru opened his eyes slowly, feeling pain lance through his entire body as he lifted his head. The hole in his chest had closed and the blood had dried on his clothes. Sitting up, he saw Kameharu laying on the ground a small ways away. His eyes suddenly burned as a bright golden light filled the air above him. Staring up at it through squinted eyes, he was able to make out Serena and Galaxia floating in the air above him. Staring up at them he felt no trace of the negative power that had filled Galaxia before. The power that was the source of all evil in the universe that had housed itself within her, Chaos. As the light dissipated, Koaru forced himself to his feet and retrieved his swords.

"Chaos," he heard Galaxia say above, "where do you think it has gone?"

Sheathing his weapons, Koaru smiled at the question. If Sailor Moon had pulled her usual miracle of miracles, Chaos was now nothing more than a distant memory. He took another step forward and felt a wave of pain shoot through his body again. His knees buckled, and the darkness took him once more.


	2. Chapter 1: On a Sunday Afternoon

**Shadow of the Scar**

Chapter 1: On a Sunday Afternoon

The rays of the sun warmed the air as Serena walked outside, arms raised overhead as she stretched, a smile on her face. It had been three weeks since the event with Galaxia and now, for the first time in the past two years, she felt truly at peace. No Negaverse. No Chaos. No evil. Period. Now she could walk around on a lazy Sunday afternoon with her friends and just be a teenager. And that was what she intended to do as she made her way to the Temple to meet up with Raye and Lita. Her ever loving boyfriend, Darien, was at work for the time being, so Serena figured she would kill the afternoon with her friends before meeting up with him. Amy was studying, as per usual, and Mina claimed she had 'other things going on' and would try to meet up with the group later on. Reaching the Temple steps, Serena found her friends already waiting for her, both Raye and Lita staring at their watches as she approached.

"Sorry guys," Serena apologized as she walked up to them.

"Come on Serena," Raye started, setting her hands on her hips, "you're the one who said that we should all spend the afternoon together and, as always, you are late!"

"I know I know," Serena answered, smiling awkwardly. "But, I just couldn't help it." She looked up at the clear blue sky. "I mean, don't you both feel it too? As though a huge weight had been lifted from our shoulders? We finally did it. There is no more evil left for us to deal with."

Lita crossed her hands behind her head and grinned, leaning on one leg. "I have to agree with her this time Raye. Ever since the battle with Galaxia ended, I've found that I'm taking more time to appreciate everything around me."

Raye sighed, knowing when she was beat. Especially since she too had been daydreaming recently. As the three set off down the street, Serena suddenly turned to Lita.

"Hey! What do you mean 'this time'?"

"It appears to be completely back to normal."

Amy took her glasses off and sat back on her chair in the living room of her and her mother's apartment as Koaru walked across the room, topless for the moment. Retrieving his shirt from the back of a second chair, he pulled it on over his head and shook his long black hair out, smiling.

"So it has completely receded?" he asked as he sat down and helped himself to a muffin from the table between them. Amy nodded, lifting up a tea cup and taking a sip.

"As far as I can tell, the Scar's markings have all receded back into the Scar."

Koaru let out a sigh of relief and settled back into the chair. "That's good. Because if they had spread any farther I wouldn't have been able to keep them covered. Then would come the questions."

Amy set the tea down and looked at Koaru, slightly concerned. "When did the Scar's markings stop receding?"

Koaru paused and thought for a moment, avoiding meeting Amy's gaze. After a moment he looked up to her.

"After the battle against Alistair. After you and I... went our separate ways..." He looked away again after seeing the gears click and turn in Amy's head.

"So," Amy pondered, "have the markings receded because we are friends again? Or could there be another reason for it?"

Even though he knew that there was a long road ahead of the two of them, it still stung every time Koaru heard Amy nonchalantly refer to them as 'friends'. After the night that Tenshi had left to continue his pursuit of Shiro, Koaru had thought that things would go back to normal between him and Amy, but instead he seemed to back at square one. But he wasn't going to complain. Better than her completely ignoring him.

"Who knows?" he said, stuffing the remainder of the muffin into his mouth and downing his tea in one swallow. Getting up from the chair, he grabbed his bag and headed to the door. "I'll let you get back to your studying. I've got a few errands to run for my parents before the shops close."

"Ah... Koaru hold up-" Amy started after him but he was gone, shutting the door before she even got out of her chair. Sitting back down, Amy pouted. "I had hoped to spend more time alone with you... jerk." Shaking her head, Amy grabbed her book and stared at the page, rereading the same sentence six times before slamming to book down in defeat. No. Her head was too messed up to try and study. Getting up from the chair she made her way to the door, deciding that she would go and meet up with Serena and the others earlier than planned.

"Damn it!" Serena shouted, sweat dripping from her brow as she took another heavy strike. "Damn it damn it damn it! No! Take this!"

"Go for the legs!" Lita shouted, gritting her teeth.

"Too late," Raye said smugly. "This one is mine!"

Serena watched helplessly as Raye unleashed a devastating combo, dropping her face into the control board as her screen flashed Game Over. The girls had arrived at the arcade an hour ago and, while it all started out as innocent fun gaming, Raye's taunts got to be too much after Serena failed to get anything from the claw machine, and thus the battle of the belles had begun. And so far the entire war had been in Raye's favor, even with Lita trying to coach Serena.

"One more round!" Serena shouted, slamming a coin into the machine. Raye grinned wickedly and grabbed the controls once more as the front doors to the arcade opened. Lita looked over and waved Amy over as she entered the building.

"Hey Amy," Lita said as the blue haired girl approached the group, "what happened to studying all day?"

"I couldn't focus." Amy said, leaning over Serena's shoulder to watch as Raye juggled Serena's character in the air with a series of uppercuts.

"Oh? Would that have anything to do with Koaru visiting earlier?" Lita teased, causing Amy to blush.

"No! It has nothing to do with him!" she snapped back, causing Lita to grin and tousle her hair.

"Oh you're so cute when you lie!"

"Lita!" Amy protested as she tried to escape Lita's clutches. "Cut it out!"

Serena face planted into the game controls again as Raye soundly beat her once more.

"Anyone else want to have a go?" Raye asked Lita and Amy, who looked from her to one another.

"How about a Round Robin tournament?" Lita asked, grinning. "Losers treat the winner at the cafe later."

"Sounds good." Raye said, sitting back down.

"I'm in." Amy chimed in, taking a seat at another machine.

"Free food!" Serena squealed as she found the will to fight once more.

Koaru stepped out of the market, shopping list in hand and carrier bag full on his back.

"Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, curry powder, rice, onions... I think I've got everything." he said, pocketing the list and walking to the parking structure where he had left his bike. As he approached the structure, Koaru checked his watch and looked around. "He's late."

"Actually," came a voice from behind, causing Koaru to turn, "you're the one who is late."

Artemis was laying on a post box a few feet away, clearly just waking up from a nap. The white cat stretched and yawned as Koaru smiled apologetically. "So you asked me to meet you here," Artemis said as he sat upright on the post box. "What's on your mind?"

"I need to ask a favor." Koaru said, pulling out his necklace. "You and Luna made this for me back in the Silver Millennium, right?"

"Yes we did, using minerals from what remained of Tritus." Artemis replied. "Why?"

"Are there any left?" Koaru asked, putting the necklace away. "Anything at all?"

"I'm not sure," Artemis said, closing his eyes as he thought about it. "I know where I could look, but I can't promise that there would be anything left. Tritus was destroyed over 2000 years ago."

"That's fine. Could you check?" Koaru asked, causing Artemis to look up at him. "Please?"

"I could," Artemis said slowly, locking eyes with Koaru. "What is this about?"

"I can't say," Koaru said, looking away, "not yet. Just... please. Can you do this for me?"

Artemis frowned. He didn't like being left in the dark when being sent off on a tedious errand like this, but he had never seen Koaru this earnest before.

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Thank you. Thank you so much!"

"I said I will look," Artemis cut in, "I can't promise that I will find anything."

"I know." Koaru replied, still smiling. "Anything you can find, take it to Seifer's temple. Just tell him it's from me."

"Alright, but I'm warning you Koaru, I doubt that I will find anything."

"You're going to look," Koaru said, giving the feline a gentle smile, "That's more than I could ask for."

Amy sat in the cafe with her friends, sipping her tea with a smile on her face as the rest of the girls slumped around the table in shame. None of them had even come close to beating her at the arcade, and now they were footing the bill for her tea and parfait, along with their own treats.

"I always forget that Amy looks at games differently from us..." Serena said meekly, resting her cheek on the table, the straw from her soda hanging out of her mouth.

"Says she can't focus on her homework, but she sure focused on my face." Lita sighed, leaning back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling.

"Speaking of the no focus," Raye piped up, a glint in her eye despite the weary expression on her face, "What were you and Koaru up to?"

Amy's cheeks turned red as she continued to sip her tea, refusing to make eye contact with anyone around the table as they all seemed to bear down on her like a pack of hyenas upon a helpless rabbit. Setting her cup down, Amy took a breath and fessed up.

"He came over to ask me to inspect the Shadow Scar." The gleeful tension around the table vanished as everyone held their breath, waiting for the news on their Guardian's curse. Amy looked each of them in the eye before smiling. "It has fully receded. The markings have all returned to the Scar, and his energy has balanced out completely. There is virtually no trace of his Unholy Fire."

A collective sigh of relief resounded from their table as everyone felt their worst fear vanish from their minds.

"So, what exactly does that mean?" Serena asked. "I mean, I know that it means those black markings are not all over his body anymore, but about the Black Fire being gone, does that mean the Scar has no power left?"

"I'm not sure," Amy admitted, a bitter note in her voice. "Until he actually tries invoking its power, there no way to tell. And with Chaos defeated, I don't really see a need for him to ever call upon its power ever again."

"That's true," Lita said, crossing her arms and nodding. "We have defeated the source of all evil in the universe. What else is there to fight? Local crime?"

"Our powers reduce damage from energy based attacks. I don't think they would do much against a knife or bullets." Raye chimed in, smiling uncomfortably. "I think it be best that we just retire."

"And go back to just being teenagers, living out our everyday lives." Amy added before finishing off her tea.

Serena smiled, the idea of never fighting again was like music to her ears. She then noticed a flash of golden hair out of the corner of her eye and turned her head, a smile spreading across her face as she saw Mina walking down the street across from them, arm in arm with a tall stud with light, wavy brown hair.

"I just found an adventure..." she muttered, causing everyone around the table to sweat drop in anxiety.

The sun had set hours ago, and Raye was beyond exhausted after the afternoon of Serena's whimsical wanderings, and she was just happy to be back home. Walking down the halls of the Temple in her robes, Raye's ears picked up the familiar roar of Koaru's motorcycle parking at the Temple steps. Heading to gate she caught sight of the Guardian as he crested the top of the steps, panting slightly.

"Had to run them?" she asked, grinning.

"Three at a time," he panted, also smiling. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Koaru looked around the Temple grounds. "You got a minute to chat?"

Raye nodded and the two wandered around the Temple grounds as Koaru spoke.

"So, as I'm sure you've heard by now, the markings from the Shadow Scar have receded."

Raye nodded her head again and looked at Koaru's shoulder, the resting place of his curse. "I have. And that's a wonderful thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It is." Koaru replied, though his voice sounded conflicted. "It's just... I have no idea why it receded. Amy has her theory that it spread because of us fighting and now that the conflict between us has ended the Scar was able to slowly go back to normal. It makes sense, but still..." Koaru stopped and stared up at the night sky. "I just don't feel like that is the case."

Raye remained silent, staring at Koaru. Her mind worked around the facts that she was aware of with the Scar, forming her own theory. "Koaru, mind if I give my opinion?" Koaru looked at her and nodded, and the two resumed their stroll.

"The Shadow Scar was placed on you by Alistair back in the Silver Millennium, and it was branded onto you through the power of the Negaverse, right? And the Negaverse was fueled by Chaos, which is why the Scar kept its power even after we defeated the Negaverse. But now Chaos is gone. Serena destroyed it. So now, maybe that is why the markings receded. The Scar no longer has the power needed to fuel it."

Koaru let her words tumble around in his head few a bit. It made sense, but there was one issue with the theory. "That's a good thought, but I can still feel power within the Scar. And I can still call upon its power. I've tested it a few times, so I don't know if that could be it."

"Well," Raye cut in, "you have been using it non stop for the past two years. Is there maybe a chance that your own powers fused into the Scar? That perhaps it is your own energy fueling the Scar now?"

Koaru stopped, his eyes wide. "That could be..." he muttered before turning his gaze to Raye. "The energy from the Scar no longer feels so... angry. Blood thirsty. It feels much calmer. You may be right Raye!" Koaru exclaimed, smiling wide. "The Scar... my curse... I think you're right! The curse has finally become a blessing!"

Raye had never seen Koaru like this, not without Amy by his side. He seemed so relieved and happy. She had never realized how much the Scar had actually burdened him. The hundreds of times she had watched him in battle, he seemed to love the rush that the Scar gave him. Seeing him like this now, she felt a little mad at herself for ever thinking that he embraced that curse.

Raye walked with Koaru to the Temple steps, watching him head down to his bike. Hearing the engine roar to life, she turned and headed back to the Temple. Entering the main hall where the Great Fire burned, Raye approached the flame and sat down before it, beginning her evening meditation. She sat there, letting her mind go blank as it connected to the spirit of the Great Fire, letting its presence wash through and cleanse her mind and spirit. From the corner of her mind she felt a sudden sting of pain, and her eyes snapped open. The flames flickered as though a breeze had run through them, but quickly returned to their usual blaze. Raye touched the back of her neck, feeling a cold sweat.

"What was that?" she muttered to herself, her heart racing. It had been so faint that she was not even sure if there had been anything there. Shaking her head, Raye dismissed it from her mind. She was tired. It was late. She had been fighting for so long that she was paranoid. It was nothing.

"There's nothing left to fight." she reminded herself as she closed the doors to the Fire's chamber. "Nothing."


End file.
